[Kieran]

Hi Michael,

Thanks very much for your in-depth evaluation of Extensive Viewing related to your teaching context.

EVF here is designed to deepen students’ knowledge of Korean culture and language, as well as support their English-language development, by watching feature-length films. There would be 4-6 feature-length films used in this particular course. Films would be chosen according to topic (eg., historical drama, Korean ethics / morality), availability of English-language materials (subtitles, reviews, scholarly work), and importance in the canon of Korean cinema (i.e., no obscure works). Using a few select works, along with clips and references to other films of course, allows the students to gain significant exposure to select topics and aspects of Korean culture and language without overwhelming them with viewing hours.

This makes sense to me. Choosing a select few films according to topic and importance in the canon of Korean cinema is a logical approach. As you point out, it’s important to to overwhelm or discourage students with too many viewing hours.

The [Modified] 7 stages, for the Korean students (i.e., those who know the culture and language intimately) + the non-Korean students (who are learning about these)

The modified 7-stage frameworks makes sense to me.

1. Activation
a. Class discusses preview questions after looking at a poster / viewing a trailer
i. General questions first, then on to culture / language (maybe not language at this stage)
ii. Non-Korean students ask questions.
iii. Korean students answer – as best they can.
iv. Teacher facilitates / fills in as necessary
b. It is expected that students will get quicker at this at the term progresses.

This Activation stage is good for activating students’ schemata.

2. Context and grading text
a. Students read a synopsis
i. May be taken from an online source (IMDb), or written by the instructor.
ii. Students may, eventually, create their own ‘predictive’ glossary
iii. Glossary will be multi-lingual (Korean, English, plus Ss’ 1st language)

Getting a synopsis from an online source saves a lot of time. Writing a synopsis takes a lot of time. I like the idea of having a multi-lingual glossary.

3. Preparation
a. Students will be given an English glossary (or will it be Korean????)
b. They will also have space to add their own words / expressions
c. They will have space to translate these into their own L1.
d. They will return to, and develop, this glossary after / during stage 4.

I like the idea of leaving space in the glossary for the students to add their own words / expressions. Nice!

4. Subtitles, whole film “getting acquainted”
a. This is going to be tricky.
b. Students will use no subs / English subs / Korean subs according to their individual needs
c. Korean students will focus on developing their English skills
d. Non-Korea students will focus on learning (about) Korean, and using English to scaffold that learning OR scaffolding their English (only?)
e. How this will look is dependent on the class make-up and the individual backgrounds of the students.

The subtitles are tricky as you have Korean and non-Korean students. As you point out how this works is dependent on the class make-up and the individual backgrounds of the students.

5. Stage 5 “intensive viewing”
a. Students will watch individual scenes.
b. Students will probably study these in small groups (hopefully all groups will have both Koreans and Non-Koreans) ; 5-6 groups watch 5-6 scenes
c. Focus on linguistic content in Korean, English, and with some elements of comparison to their L1 (if it’s other than Korean or English)
d. We then cycle back to stage 4 and complete the glossary.

I like your concept of ‘intensive viewing’. I can see this process working well. Having both Koreans and Non-Koreans in all groups is a good idea.

6. Post-viewing questions and discussion will be given in English and translated by students into Korean + their L1.
a. It is *possible* that certain questions will be given in Korean, if the classes’ Korean level is high enough.
b. All students, but especially for those whose Korean level is not high enough, will be able to access a bilingual version of the questions.
c. Post-viewing pre-discussion may be held in groups that are arranged according to L1 (In TBLT work of this sort, I often give students the opportunity to prepare with short discussions in their L1)

This is another tricky stage but what your propose would work well, in my opinion. I like your proposal for lower level students to be able to access a bilingual version of the questions.

d. “Culture and Language” section may be enlarged / other sections omitted.

It makes perfect sense to extend this stage in a course on culture.

7. Reponses
a. Responses will include typical questions
i. These may be answered in English or Korean (but no Korean for Korean L1s)
ii. Students can work together in groups to do peer-review / checking
iii. Teacher will facilitate
iv. This can be done as homework (partially or completely)

Another tricky area but I think you’ve dealt with it very well. I like your idea of students working together in groups to do peer-review / checking.

I could envision this becoming progressively more critical, difficult, and ‘Koreanised’ as the term progresses.

Yes. This could become more critical and difficult as you and your students become more familar with and proficient at the framework.

I both love the prospect of this course and am simultaneously terrified!

It sounds like a brilliant programme but logistically very complex! I’m sure it’ll be a great success even though you may have some teething problems.

Thanks again for your evaluation, Michael.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Marialena,

Thanks very much for your insightful comments.

It goes without saying that student’s media literacy will benefit immensely from the Extensive Viewing programme.

Absolutely. The student’s media literacy and visual literacy will definitely benefit from an Extensive Viewing programme.

As far as the obstacles are concerned I fear that in my case they’ll either have to do with parents’ not grasping the value of the programme and rather evaluating it as a distraction from the learning process, or students not having the required time to dedicate to watching the films twice or even not being willing to do so e.g. in case they did not enjoy the film.

Two very good points. Parents often don’t not grasp the value of this type of programme and have to be educated and convinced of its value. Time is another key factor – quite possibly the biggest obstacle. I would argue that learning a language takes a lot of time and hard work, and that Extensive Viewing, just like the better-know Extensive Reading, involves a lot of time and hard works but is one of the best ways to learn a language.

Overall, I believe that it could only work as an elective, extra-get-together-activity.

Of course there’s also the financial obstacle…such a programme means extra costs for both the language school and the parents.

Yes. I think you’re probably right here.

‘Selling’ it wouldn’t be necessary in my case as I was encouraged by my boss to participate in this course in order to recommend activities and frameworks that we could implement afterwards!

Having your boss on board is a big advantage!

Thanks again for your comments, Marialena.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Marialena,

Thanks very much for your great evaluation of the viewing guides.

I wouldn’t give the viewing guide to its entirety as I feel like the 27+ pages might overwhelm my students and eventually demotivate them.

I know the viewing guides are long – between 28 and 40 pages. However, as Extensive Viewing is based on the principles and tenets of Extensive Reading it does involve a lot of work for students. . When teachers give students a simple novel or reader to read, it may be 100 pages in length but we wouldn’t expect them to read it it a few days – we’d give them a number of weeks. The same applies with Extensive Viewing – students would be given a week or two to work though the guide and watch and re-watch the film.

A concern of mine: I am not sure how I feel about the inclusion of offensive vocab (swear words etc.) in the glossary. Aren’t students already aware of these words via YouTube, other films etc. anyway? Do we need to be teaching them these in the language classroom?

The use of offensive language is always a tricky area. But the fact students have come across swear words in other films and TV series doesn’t mean they know what they really mean. I’ve had several students who thought it was Ok to refer to Black people as ‘nigger’ as they’d heard it so much in films, Tv series and rap songs. They were horrified when I told them it was offensive. Similarly, I’ve had lot of students who thought it was appropriate to refer to a woman as ‘a bitch’ because they’d heard it so much in films and TV series. I think it’s important to highlight swear words in a film and make students aware they’re offensive and how they’re used. So, for example, in the guides ‘son of a bitch’ is shown as being an exclamation as well as an insult. Obviously, with younger learners it’s trickier to teach these words and expressions.

The two viewing guides I looked at: Boyhood and Carol

Two good choices!

Even though I would prefer to pick Carol I think that it’s for slightly older students. I’m teaching 12-13 year olds who are raised in a very patriarchal society and have limited – if at all – contact with people who deviate from the concept of the ‘traditional family’ so I would rather go for Boyhood if I had to choose between the two.

I understand what you mean about being careful about using films about people who deviate from the concept of the ‘traditional family’ with certain groups of students. I hope that the world is changing and that we can use more films about all of humanity.

As regards the pre- and post-viewing questions I really liked them as they explore a variety of different aspects of each film.

Yes. The pre-viewing and post-viewing questions do explore many facets of the film.

I also really liked Gail’s comment about listing the names of the characters and describing who they are!

Yes. This could help students understand the characters better especially when there are a lot of charcters in the film.

Thanks again for your great evaluation, Marialena.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Michael,

Thanks very much for the explanation. Now I understand.

Good idea to use time stamps in this way.

Cheers,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Marialena,

Thanks very much for your great analysis of the short film worksheets.

1. Another benefit maybe related to the fact that they are often silent is that this particular feature of short films allows teachers to introduce a variety of different cultures to the students (not centred around the English-language dominated productions of the UK and the US).

This is an excellent point. There are thousands of free-to-view short films from all around the globe.

Promoting independent productions and making students aware that there’s more to Hollywood and Netflix is always something to consider!

Absolutely. The vast majority of short film makers are independents and not tied to the conventions of Hollywood.

2. Evaluation of the generic activities:

Short film viewing guide: I like its holistic approach, especially how the after-viewing questions evaluate many different aspects of the film

Yes. The holistic approach is nice, isn’t it? The after-viewing questions do evaluate many different aspects of the film.

Video ads activity: I would maybe add a more generic concluding question such as ‘What is the purpose of the ad? (to sell etc.)’

This is a great question to ask about an ad.

I think that it’s important to remind students that even though ads might often have a narrative and resemble films their ultimate purpose is simply to drive consumerism by selling a product, service, idea etc.

Absolutely. Critically viewing and analysing ads helps students become more critical viewers and citizens.

Setting activity: I particularly liked this one, especially if done before watching the film I think that it could stimulate curiosity and eventually engage students

The setting activty works really well and generates a lot of speculation and inference.

Sound grid: I have to agree with Gail about this one !

This is one of my favourites too.

Sound activity: I really like the idea of exploiting the soundtrack of the short film – I’ve never done this or thought about it so it’s something completely new to consider. I’m thinking that it might even work nicely with ‘silent’ films which though have other sounds (not dialogues) throughout the entire duration of the film…maybe play a segment that has very descriptive sounds (without visual stimulation) and asks students similar questions to the ones about the soundtrack.

This activity does work well with ‘silent’ films with no dialogue.

Thanks again for your great analysis, Marialena.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Andrew,

Thanks very much for your great evaluation of the short film worksheets.

The brevity of the film is certainly an important factor, especially when a class might only be 40 minutes or an hour in length. Students can find the moving image more motivating, and I’ve found this to be particularly true of young learners.

Absolutely. Young learners seem to be more motivated by film and video texts.

Where they might struggle to read a written text, they’re able to read images. Where they might find the text boring, the moving image captures their imagination. I’ve found they also work very well for young learners who have shorter attention spans – they can (usually!) stay focused for the 5 – 10 minutes to watch a short film.

I like the way you’ve expressed this.

I think that I could use short films dealing with present-day/social issues more in the classroom.

I’d definitely recommend trying to use short films dealing with present-day/social issues more in the classroom.

Listening to the soundtrack

I’ve tried visualisations with students, using spoken word or sound effects/music. I’m really interested to know just what predictions students would come up with based purely on what they hear and without any visual cues.

Students come up with amazing predictions based purely on what they hear. This works best if they close their eyes and visualise.

I’d get them to write down ideas for each of the questions or possibly draw their response – what do they picture in their mind’s eye? I’d them get them to compare ideas with their partner or group and take feedback – are their answers similar in any way? It might also be a good idea to write down ideas from each group on the board to refer back to.

Nice! I think this process would work really well.

When students actually watch the film perhaps they would be more actively engaged as they start to compare similarities and differences. Referring back to the whiteboard, correct answers could be ticked off.

This is a nice way to finish off the process.

Video ads worksheet

I actually hadn’t thought about using adverts as short films (it seems obvious now – the John Lewis Christmas adverts, for example!)

Yes. Most people don’t consider these ads to be short films but they are. They have characters, a setting, sound, story etc.

Adverts are multimodal texts with lots going on like video, sound, voiceover, on screen text. They are typically very short but powerful, given that they’re trying to sell a product or service in a very short space of time.

Exactly. They’re great example of multimodal texts. The fact they’re trying to sell us something means we can analyse how they are trying to influence and manipulate us.

They can be rewatched many times and they lend themselves well to students doing a follow up task, for example creating their own product and making an advert for it. Perhaps that seems cliché, but if they’ve analysed some adverts already then they can use what they learned to make a persuasive new one.

Getting students to create their own product and ad are great tasks.

Setting analysis

I’d get students to do this with a partner to share/brainstorm ideas.

This definitely works well in pairs or a small group.

I liked the ideas that came out when discussing Paperman in the webinar – talking about the location/architecture of the buildings and so on. I think doing something similar with the main characters – how they look, their personality, how they know each other etc. would be really worthwhile.

Yes. This questioning process helps to deconstruct a visual text, activates the students’ schemata and generates a lot of language.

Thanks again for your great evaluation, Andrew.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Gail,

Thanks very much for your great analysis of the short film worksheets.

Perhaps I would add that short films are more available (free) than feature films.

Excellent point! The vast majority of short films are free to view online which is definitely not the case with feature-length films!

1. Viewing guide – very nice, very helpful

This is a very nice one, isn’t it?

2. Video ads sheet – very good. Perhaps add: How does the ad affect you emotionally? What devices/tools does the film use to affect or even manipulate you?

Both of those questions are excellent.

3. Setting sheet – This is important, but may be a bit difficult to answer.

Yes. It might be difficult to answer. This is why the selection of the screenshot is important. We need to choose one which gives a lot of information or is open to multiple interpretations.

4. Sound grid – I like this very much. It directs the student’s attention to each aspect of the sound in the film.

This is one of my favourites too.

5. Listen then view – this is a very interesting idea! (I think the fourth question should read “you” instead of “they”. The seventh should say “are”).

Thanks for the heads ups on the mistakes. I’ve corrected them!

I’m not sure about the wording of the question “How does the film live up to your imagination and expectations?” – do you mean “In what ways” or “By what means”?

Good point. I’ve changed it to ‘In what ways does the film live up to what you imagined?’

Thanks again for your great analysis, Gail.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Gail,

Thanks very much for your great evaluation of the viewing guides.

Wow, so much work and time have been put into each of these guides. My hat is off to you!Amazing.

Thanks for the kind feedback!

I understand that these guides are not to be given to the students, but rather the teacher can pick and choose from them according to the level of the students and the goals of the teacher.

The guides are actually designed to be given to students in their entirety. The Pre-viewing and Post-viewing discussion questions would be done in class and the Synopsis and Viewing at home.

1. Explanations of why we are doing this – I like very much making the students aware of why it is important to do each part, taking into consideration the age of the learners. These are good for my adult students.

Yes. As students wouldn’t be familiar with an extensive viewing programme, it’s very important to give them clear explanations of what they’re going to do and why they’re doing it.

2. Synopsis – I looked at “Sleepless in Seattle” and “The King’s Speech”. The former has a LONG and detailed synopsis. I think it may be confusing and off-putting for the students to read this. The latter is much shorter and straight-forward.

Very valid points here. The Synopsis is a tricky area. Research shows that when ESL/EFL students read a synopsis of a text before reading a text, it tends to reduce cognitive load as they are familiar with the narrative and leads to greater comprehension. However, as you point out, may spoil the film for students as they know the story before viewing.

I think it would be very helpful either to list the names of the characters with a short description of who they are or the relationship between them (e.g. mother of X, son of Y, shop owner etc.) or, even better, have the students make a list of the characters when they read the synopsis and then go over that list.

These are great ideas. They would help students to understand the character better.

It would be helpful to write the names of the characters (in the synopsis) in bold or in color.

I really like this suggestion too.

Some more questions:

I’ve responded your additional questions from your other post below.

1. pronunciation – do the students know how to read the pronunciation? I wonder about giving this at all since, for example, your pronunciation is so different from mine – and it really depends who the teacher is and what pronunciation is being taught.

yes. I take your point here. As English spelling and pronunciation are often not closely related I think it’s necessary for students to learn the phonemic alphabet – it really does help them improve their pronunciation.

2. usage – I like very much the fact that you give 3 examples of usage. Wonderful!

Yes. Having 3 examples of usage helps students to understand and learn the vocabulary items.

3. register – this is sometimes, but rarely, noted. I find it missing here, but then the teacher can certainly add it. Also there are expressions that are very dated and not used or used in England and not in the U.S. – and this is not noted (to pop something on, for example) There is a lot of necessity here for teacher intervention – which is fine.

Great point! I completely agree with you that register is really important and that the teacher can aid students here.

4. choice of vocab – this is a VERY complex topic. Is it based on what is necessary to understand? what is generally useful? what we want the students to be able to use.

This is a really important point. The choice of vocabulary is the most difficult part of writing a film guide. What i try to do is have a mix of high frequency words and expressions and salient words and expressions which aid comprehension of the narrative. Not an easy task!

ACTIVITIES – I like very much giving a choice. Great stuff. Thank you!

I’m delighted you like the activities!

Thanks again for your great evaluation, Gail.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Michael,

Thanks very much for your great evaluation of how you could use the viewing guides in your teaching context in South Korea.

My reply is going to be a bit odd. This is a result of my particular situation, not because of any problem with the question!

As I mentioned, I’m teaching a new course: “Korean culture and language through film and media”, and my answer comprises some preliminary thoughts on how I can use EV film guides in this particular course.

It’s absolutely fine to evaluate how you’d use the guides in your context – not weird at all!

Overall

Explain the concept and design of film guides, then work through one that is prepared (by me or an already published one), with a film they (probably) already know [familiar content so they can focus on the structure of the guide].

Using a film they are already familiar with is a good idea as it reduces cognitive load as they are already familiar with the story, setting, characters etc.

Next, have them work through another film, to review the process and begin to think about the what/how Korean culture and language figure into it; this would most likely be an English-language film with a Korean director. Eventually, I would have them do a (group) project where they develop a viewing guide of their own.

This makes perfect sense. I like the idea of them eventually creating their own film guide.

Section by Section

Going through each section, asking / doing the following:

Basic information
*Asking them where they can find this information (IMDb, Rotten tomatoes, Asianwiki, etc.)

Yes. it’s a good task to get them to find out about the film themselves.

Pre-viewing questions
*Getting them to make up a few questions, in a group.
[Perhaps we’d look at a trailer.]

Getting them to come up with their own pre-viewing questions is nice.

Previewing discussion
*Having the groups pose questions to the class.

This would work well.

Film Synopsis
*As with basic information, where can they find it?
*Have them write a few of them throughout the term.
[Provide lots of models ; less original writing]

Yes. They’d need a lot of models to be able to write their own synopsis but it’s a nice task.

Glossary
Assign scenes to (groups of) students, and have them identify the words / phrases they can’t understand / find challenging.

Assigning specific scenes to groups is a good idea.

[Would this work by giving them time stamps? I’m not sure.]

I’m sorry but I don’t know what time stamps are.

Post-film discussion
Same as previewing discussion.

I can see the same pre-viewing proces working well with the post-viewing discussion.

Personal Response to the film
Homework, individual.

This definitely works better as homework.

Thanks again for your great evaluation of how you could use the guides in your context, Michael.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Angie,

Thanks very much for your great answers!

I will be working as a freelancer from September and am considering actually setting up shop and starting my business.
What I am considering now is how to integrate extensive viewing into my course offering. I have implemented extensive listening/reading/writing/speaking programms before (university students) and found they really enjoyed it, and had better long-term effects as it was habit building.

I can really see an extensive viewing programme working in your context, especially as you have previous experience of extensive listening/reading/writing/ programmes. As mentioned in the article, extensive viewing is based on the principle sand tenets of extensive reading, so the two have much in common.

Idea A: Students can book a regular course, and as an extension to their “paket” they can also book the Film Club. (both are stand-alone, but cheaper in combo)

This sounds like a good option.

Idea B: Building up enough of a student base, it could be expanded to also offering a Listening Club, Reading Club, Speaking Club, Writing Club… Multimodal Club…

Another good option.

Obstacles: I need to have a broad student base, and I would need space as these activities are more fun with a bigger group. Only have two basic groups instead of the 6 CEFR groups? I still need to play with this idea.

I think that initially at least you’d would only have two basic groups instead of the 6 CEFR groups. It’d be difficult to make 6 different CEFR groups financially viable. Another possible obstacle, could be clearly communicated to students and parents what extensive viewing is and how it works.

Thanks again for your excellent responses, Angie.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Angie,

Thanks very much for your great evaluation of the guides.

Since the guides follow the same structure, I don’t feel it is necessary to make a comparison here.

That makes sense.

I do think they are great. They lighten my load on the prep side. Without I would have to watch a movie several times, pick out vocab, find a synopsis online somewhere, adapt the framework Qs… and here it is done.

Absolutely. They really do reduce the preparation time for teachers.

Of course I would still need to think about how to present it or which questions to focus on, what to give as homework. Also maybe come up with activities to reinforce/practice the vocab.

Yes. The teacher still has to do some work in terms of selecting which questions to focus on and which homework to do, but the bulk of the work is already done.

Thanks again for your great evaluation, Angie.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Andrew,

Thanks very much for your great evaluation of the film guides.

For this task I looked at the viewing guides for Carol and The King’s Speech.

two great films!

Both guides are comprehensive. They give students a very structured approach to viewing the film and allow for greater learner autonomy.

I completely agree with you that the guides can help to develop students’ autonomy.

Pre-viewing

The viewing recommendations give students a clear order and the pre-viewing questions help students to start drawing on their background knowledge and making connections. I’d like to do this in class because it would lead to interesting discussion and I think it would be more beneficial for the students to share their ideas.

I also think this Pre-viewing stage works best in class and generates a lot of interesting discussion.

With The King’s Speech I wonder what sort of answers students would have – their knowledge of the British monarchy might be limited to contemporary figures like Queen Elizabeth, Prince William, Harry and Meghan etc. Being able to make that link, as well as knowing it’s based on a real person, may make it more interesting for them.

I’d use Carol with students who had the intellectual maturity to be able to tackle the subject matter and issues contained in the film. I’d really like to be able to use a film like this, but in some settings it’s too controversial or taboo.

Synopsis

The synopsis for The King’s Speech is short and to the point; for Carol it’s longer and more detailed. Both are sufficient in helping students understand the respective stories

I think the longer synopsis is better as it gives students more idea of the narrative and this can reduce the cognitive load when they watch the film.

The glossary for both is extensive and there are example sentences which help further student comprehension. At first it might seem quite overwhelming for the students with multiple pages of new vocabulary. Breaking the film down into sections, along with the relevant vocabulary, and watching a second time will help students retain more. It allows students to do this as self-study and revisit it at their leisure. They don’t need to rewatch the whole film, they can concentrate on a specific part if they wanted to.

Yes. Breaking the film down into sections with the relevant vocabulary makes the guide more student-friendly. Watching a second time will definitely help students retain more.

Post-viewing questions

There are a lot of questions here, broken down by categories from the viewing framework (story, character, composition etc). This variety gives the teacher/students lots of options.

Very good point here. Giving the teacher and students lots of options is very important.

Like with the pre-viewing questions I think this would work best as an in-class discussion, but it could be set for writing homework, or a mix of both.

I also think this stage works best in class.

Response to the film

Giving the students a choice of three options allows them to produce a personal response to the film that suits their learning style and allows them to reflect and develop their ideas.

Yes. With the choice of three options, most students should find a task they find interesting and engaging.

Extensive viewing in my classroom

I teach young learners are the moment, so I wouldn’t use either of these films. However, I think that I could still use the basic principles and structure with a different film in my middle school class (B1 level).

Excellent point. The framework wouldn’t work so well with younger learners. But, as you point out, you could still use the basic principles and structure with other films in your middle school class.

The problem here is convincing parents that extensive viewing is a valuable use of time when students have other academic priorities.

This is a great point. Many parents would argue that watching a film is not homework, but I’d argue that students are not just passively watching a film but actively viewing and analysing a visual text, and doing lots of engaging activities which will improve their children’s English level.

Thanks again for your great evaluation, Andrew.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Gail,

Thanks very much for your great analysis of the scene.

I saw American Beauty a long time ago and remember not liking it. To see Kevin Spacey now – it’s hard not to think of what has happened with the actor himself.

It is a shame what has happened to Kevin Spacey. he seems to have destroyed his career and reputation.

I liked the framework very much. It is helpful in providing focus for students and teachers to analyze a scene or film.

I’m delighted to hear you like the framework!

1. Characters – describe each of the two main characters, how they relate to each other and also to their daughter. This would lead me to

There are a number of Character questions that would work perfectly to characterise the realtionships shown in the scene.

2. Social Issues – dealing with some aspect of family relations or the role of men and women in the American family (and with some comparison to the student’s own culture).

I think getting students to compare the culture shown in the fuilm with their own culture is really important.

3. Composition – there is SO much here, for example, the role of the asparagus, the costumes (contrast the formality of the wife to the informality of the husband), the set (formal, lit candles!!) vs the content and style of language used by the characters.

Absolutely! There is so much going on! The formal ‘beautiful ‘ room and table setting, contract so mcuh with the unpleasantness of the argument and language.

4. Sound – The background music of Frank Sinatra (and one could bring the words of the song and compare them to the content of the dialogue and scene itself), the volume of the music – relatively stable and minor – vs the ups and downs and yelling and pauses in the dialogue. BTW I think of Lawrence Welk as ballroom dancing music, not as what is played here, but that’s not the point…

Brilliant analysis of sound. I love your idea of getting the words of the song and comparing them to the content of the dialogue and scene itself. That would be amazing!

I very much like your additions to the 3 Cs and Ss – they add a lot.

I’m happy you like the additions to the 3 Cs and Ss.

Thanks again for your great analysis, Gail.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Angie,

Thanks very much for your great analysis of the scene.

Social Issues: What social issues are being explored?
Society gives us scripts. Here the script is: get a good job, get married (heterosexual), buy a house, have offspring… and automatically you will be happy. And don’t endanger this happiness, your job is to conform and do everything possible to maintain this life!

I like what you say about society giving us scripts!

The protagonist is fed up, he conformed too much, he didn’t stand up for himself, for his own desires, maintain his boundaries… he lost himself in conforming to what he thought he “has to do” as dictated/expected by society. He lost his authenticity, his truth, himself, his happiness.

Great point about the protagonist having lost his way in life. This is very common, isn’t it?

And in this scene he takes a stand. It’s a turning point when he learns to stand up for himself and to literally no longer be a pushover.

The scene really is a turning point for the protagonist.

Self: What do you think the message of the film is?
I believe the message is that living an authentic life is what brings happiness, not conformity to the expectations of others/society. But also, that it is never too late to take a stand for oneself. It really contrasts life as a teenager with that of the middle-aged… you are left wondering what happens in-between… cluelessness as a teenager, looking for direction in society, and then ending up a product of society rather than your own self-determined person.

I think your captured the message of the scene/film beautifully here.

Character: Were you able to identify with the characters in the film? Why or why not?
I can identify with the character to a certain extent. Although I didn’t follow that pattern he did in life, I do feel societal pressures to be or act a certain way. Or sometimes I do not take a clear stand to mark my boundaries. I’ve been reflecting on how this issue manifests in my life and how I want to be here on forward. As I am reflective by nature, I feel I have gone through a lot of tweaking over time, so no need for crazy explosions like he is going through.

I really like the way you’ve expressed how you identity to a certain extent with the character.

Culture: What different social classes are represented in the film? How are their cultures represented?
American (upper) middle-class is portrayed here. And the idea that “you have everything, so just f-ing be happy”. I think there is implied guilt of the middle class: all material needs are met, people in poor countries are the ones that have real problems, the ones that should be sad (The US is the land in which one can fulfill all their dreams and happiness – what?? people aren’t happy there?!).

Great stuff! The scene/film really seems to questions the ‘American Dream’ and ‘The Pursuit of Happiness’ is some way, doesn’t it.

In my class
I have a class called Cultural Studies USA (C1). For that class this would be excellent. And though it is not a contemporary movie, the topic remains relevant.

The film would be great in your course on American cultural studies. Even though the film isn’t contemporary, I ffeel that much of it is still relevant in 2021.

Thanks again for your great analysis, Angie.

All the best,

Kieran

[Kieran]

Hi Marialena,

I watched American Beauty years ago so I don’t really remember all the nuances of the film, what I remember is the midlife crisis of a white middle-class man who sexually objectifies the underaged friend of his daughter as he goes through a self proclaimed rebellion against the seemingly attainable comforts of the American Dream kind of suburban life which is satirised in the film. I assume it’s about much more than that but given that that’s what I recall I don’t consider the white male rage of any significance among the myriads of intersectional struggles that many other less privileged individuals are facing and thus wouldn’t want to introduce anything like it to students.

Yes, I take your point about elements of the film being problematic but I’m not suggesting using it with your students, just to use it as practice in applying the framework. My approach to using feature-length films is that when a film is potentially problematic, we can still use it as long as we encourage students to critically analyse it and deal with the areas which are potentially problematic rather than ignoring them.

In any case, if I were to use the scene I would rather go for the ‘social issues’ and ‘culture’ aspects of the scene even though I totally get how the analyses made by the other colleagues would help students practise linguistic aspects associated with e.g. setting etc.

This film definitely lends itself to analysing the ‘social issues’ and ‘culture’ aspects.

Regarding ‘social issues’ I would focus on: midlife crisis – how one should deal with it – acceptability or not of anger as a response / ‘joblessness’ as frowned upon in our societies / social hierarchy within the family and conflict-resolution to name a few

These are great points.

Regarding ‘culture’ I would be focusing on American culture in relation to pursuing the American dream / individualism vs collectivism in family decision making or asking questions such as: Is quitting your job accepted within your own culture? / How is the middle-class represented in the film? (grim and troublesome rather than idyllic) / How would the daughter get affected by the parental dispute or the father’s decision to quit his job? (we hear all about how the mum is the sole breadwinner in the family now, but nothing about how the father’s decision to quit might affect his daughter – will she get bullied at school ? )

Excellent. Even in such a short clip there are so many cultural aspects which appear and can be exploited, as you point out very clearly.

These are some of my initial thoughts but I would definitely have to re-watch the film in order to have a more informed opinion!

If you do re-watch it at some point, Marialena, let me know what you think of it.

Thanks again for your great analysis, Marialena.

All the best,

Kieran

[Author]

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